Freakshow
by Azuriu
Summary: Danny clenched his eyes shut as tightly as he could, trying to block out the pain. He was broken, beaten, and dying at the hand of Freakshow, the deranged ring leader of a twisted circus. Danny thought he finally lost his freedom when a ghost with familiar red eyes and fanged smirk came to save him from the hell he was trapped in. No Slash. FatherxSon. Oneshot.


**A/N: So this is my first ever contribution to the Danny Phantom archive. I'm a huge fan of the series, and I stumbled upon this oneshot in some old files and decided to post it anyways. It's a bit below my writing standards, but I've cleaned it up the best I could within this short time frame before going on vacation.**

**Anyways, let's begin.**

* * *

"Come here." Freakshow roughly commanded. I brought a hand to my forehead, my head pounding. He... He was controlling me. I could feel his anger from across the room.

"Do not defy me, slave!" He hissed as he strode over and slapped me across the face. I stumbled to the side, falling against the wall. Freakshow shoved his staff and crystal ball in my face, "You are mine. Obey me."

I tried to look away, but he slapped me again and grabbed my chin, "You are far too valuable for me to lose, slave," I closed my eyes to be rewarded with another strike to my cheek. He shoved me to the ground and kicked me in the chest. The cloak on over my shoulders was suddenly yanked back, choking me. I coughed for a few moments, refusing to open my eyes.

Memories flooded back to me. Mom, Dad, Sam, Jazz, Tucker, all of them. I wasn't Freakshow's Grim Reaper. I was Danny, Danny Fenton. The staff. That was controlling me. I needed to get away-

"Minions!" Freakshow screamed. My ghost sense went off as the four spirits came in through the sides of the cart. The hold on my cloak withdrew itself, but I didn't feel any safer.

"Hold him down."

Oh, no. I felt all different arms grab mine, yanking me up. I tried to fire ectoplasm or turn intangible but I found that I couldn't. Refusing to open my eyes, they grabbed my arms and legs, successfully holding me down. Something weaved over my wrists and ankles as I was dragged across the floor.

Someone shoved my against the wall, as the other three tied me to... something. A sense of dread overwhelmed me as I realized what they were tying me to.

The whipping post.

"Let me go!" I yelled, struggling to pry my arms away. The ropes held tight though. I felt a hand grab my chin, "Open your eyes, ghost child. My staff is not in sight."

Should I really trust him? Not like I had much else to lose... I opened my eyes and there he was. Freakshow hadn't lied. There was no staff; however there was a whip in his hand. I could tell he sensed my fear, because his grin seemed to get wider every second. He took off my cloak, allowing it to drop to the floor.

A loud crack filled the dead air and I squeezed my eyes shut tight, expecting a painful blow. I opened them to see he whipped the wall right beside my head. There was a dent in it. My heart rate quickened and the pounding in my head raged louder. I tried to turn intangible, but I couldn't.

"Do not bother. The rope repels any ghost powers." Freakshow explained, swinging the whip like a cat's tail. He brought a hand to his chin, "Lets see... How many times?"

After a second more of thought he smiled, "How about ten? No, too little. Twenty? No, that seems like a bit much. How old are you child?" I didn't answer him. This definitely made him more furious. He cracked an evil grin, "Fine, twenty it is."

My eyes widened, "N-no, I-" He put his free hand up,

"It's too late now, slave. Oh, and count each hit out loud or we start back from one." My stomach twisted in knots when he pulled back his arm. I bit my lip and braced myself for the first hit.

...

..

.

Another blow hit my chest and another scream tore from my throat. "...N-nine-nineteen..." I barley whispered, speaking into my chest which was covered in my green blood. "What was that, slave?" Freakshow taunted, grabbing my chin. He made me look up into his eyes, "Nine... n-nineteen..." I rasped, barely any louder this time.

He seemed happy enough with this answer. He used his thumb to wipe the tears from under my eyes. I tried to move away, but I was far too weak to even hold up my own head. He smiled, "I believe I shall spare you the last whipping. You've been a good boy, however, if this happens again, slave-"

_"Get your hand off him."_

Freakshow dropped my chin and turned at the voice. I knew that deep, menacing voice... but who was it? I didn't have the energy to look up, but I still forced myself to remain in my ghost form. The fighting picked up and lasted for a few minutes. Or maybe it was seconds; I couldn't tell, but Freakshow was losing because the staff was suddenly broken at my feet. Even out of his control, I knew my eyes were still red. I could just tell.

The red eyes scared me a bit. I remember when I first saw them in a broken piece of glass at one of the heists. The redness, the eerie shadows under my eyes. It freaked me out, but this _is_ Freakshow, after all.

"Daniel."

I forced myself to look up just enough to see who called my name. I recognized the cape and costume almost immediately, but I couldn't quite find the name. He undid my bindings and I fell into his arms, changing back into my human form. He picked me up and draped his cape over me. I didn't realize I was shivering. After another second, I found the name I was searching for.

"V-vlad?"

Vlad turned us intangible and shot through the ceiling like a rocket. "Yes, little badger, its me. Hang on." He said looking down at me. I could tell he was both intrigued and worried about my eyes, but I didn't care. The cape over my body absorbed most of the blood pouring from my chest, but I noticed all the green on Vlad's costume. Even though my body worked to heal itself, the blood didn't stop.

He didn't see to mind though. Instead, he held me closer as we flew extremely fast. My stomach lurched at the sudden speed, and I help on to him tighter. Vlad seemed to notice my discomfort at the rate we were flying at, "I can't slow down, Daniel. You're losing far too much blood."

At the moment I didn't really care. I just really wanted to sleep. My eyelids began to feel heavy as they began to droop over my eyes. I felt Vlad shake my shoulders, "Keep your eyes open. You might fall into a coma."

I opened them again, but I couldn't keep it up much longer. Vlad picked up the speed and held me tighter into his chest. I leaned against him and focused on the stars above us. I didn't realize I began to close my eyes until Vlad began shaking me again. He looked very worried and flew even faster, "Hold on, little badger. We're almost there." he whispered into my hair.

Where is _there_, anyways? Suddenly, the mansion was on the same hill, along with the morning sun about to rise. We were in Wisconsin. In seconds we were in his lab. I noticed a doctor there with plenty of medical supplies... but Vlad was in his ghost- "He knows we're both half ghosts."

"Indeed, I do. Nice to meet you, Danny. I'm Doctor Atwood. Don't worry, you're going to be just fine. I'm going to give you sleeping medication in a moment." His cheery attitude was already beginning to annoy me.

I managed to nod my head once as he set me on a table. The cold metal touched my skin and I began shivering again. Why was I so cold? The doctor came towards me with some... something. I didn't know what it was; all I knew was that it was sharp. Something was placed under my nose; I figured it was the sleeping stuff the doc mentioned. I flinched when he gently took the cape off and put the thing towards my broken skin.

Yep, I was terrified of getting stitches. Vlad, back in his human form, noticed my reaction and frowned. He rose to his feet and leaned with his hands on the table. He looked down at me, "What you just went through was far worse than this, Daniel. It's not as bad as you think."

Despite myself, I gripped his hand tightly in mine. I held my breath when the doctor began. Vlad gently squeezed my hand back when I held tighter. With his free hand, he moved my black bangs away from my face and ran his hand through my hair. "Just take a breath." he whispered, "You're going to be fine. Freakshow-"

I tensed at his name, gripping Vlad's hand even tighter. He hesitantly began speaking again, continuing to stoke my dark hair. "He isn't going to touch you again, little badger. Not while I'm here."

His words surprisingly comforted me for the first time in a _long_ five months. I shut my eyes, fatigue finally taking over.

"T-thanks."

**-X-**

**A/N: My first, and possibly last, addition to these two and the DP phandom. This isn't intended to be slash, but a father-son fic. Leave a review if you'd like to see more, and I'll see what I can do :)**

**-Hallo'sEve**


End file.
